# Tell Me About Sleeping with a FreeStyle Libre Sensor **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776 "2021-06-07T17:00:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/1 "2021-06-07T17:00:49Z")
I’m about to start using the [FreeStyle Libre 2](https://www.freestyle.abbott/us-en/products/freestyle-libre-2.html) continuous glucose monitoring system. The sensors were ready for pickup on Saturday, but the reader is on backorder. The only question I can’t seem to Google an answer to is about what might happen when I sleep: I’m a side and stomach sleeper, and frequently change postion in the middle of the night. What happens if I roll onto the arm that has the sensor? Will pain wake me up? Could I damage or dislodge the sensor? I’m hoping some other side sleepers who have used this (or a similar) system are out there! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/2 "2021-06-07T17:12:51Z")
I have been using the system for an year now. The sensor does not hurt at all and is barely noticeable on the skin. I usually install on my inner forearm and never had trouble sleeping on that side. As I said, you will not notice the sensor since it does not hurt. Never had any trouble showering with it, either. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/3 "2021-06-07T17:25:58Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > I usually install on my inner forearm Thanks! I wouldn’t give it a second thought there, but all of the instructions say that the sensor should go on the the back of the upper arm. Which, for me, is a pretty good spot for getting rolled onto while I’m sleeping. 🙂 I’m not worried about pain from the sensor simply being in place; I just don’t want to “break” it (or hurt myself) if I lay on it in the middle of the night. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/4 "2021-06-07T18:52:35Z")
I’d rather sleep with Inspire. She sounds hotter. Not that Freestyle Libre doesn’t sound attractive. Too each their own. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/5 "2021-06-07T21:41:19Z")
I have never noticed a difference between readings based on where the sensor is installed. You can very well install it on your inner arm; that way your weight will not fall upon the sensor. Though the sensor attaches very firmly to the skin and is not easy to dislodge. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/6 "2021-06-07T21:44:25Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > You can very well install it on your inner arm I definitely appreciate your voice of experience, but I’ll be inclined to follow the instructions/directions…at least, at first. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/7 "2021-06-07T21:48:27Z")
If you install on the back of the arm, it is possible that the needle gets bent when your weight shifts. The sensor itself is unlikely to come off your arm because the adhesive is pretty strong. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/8 "2021-06-07T22:37:28Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > I usually install on my inner forearm Hm, I thought that it was upper back of the arm. Since it is sampling interstitial fluid, I suppose it could go pretty much anywhere. I have always used the arm spot, and never had any issue sleeping, I sleep like a goldfish out of water, I flop around like you wouldn’t believe. > [@mandala](#): > > If you install on the back of the arm, it is possible that the needle gets bent when your weight shifts. The sensor itself is unlikely to come off your arm because the adhesive is pretty strong. I have never had issues with it being dislodged other than right after a shower when heat has softened the adhesive, I sort of ripped one off getting into a bra [it caught on an edge and ripped out but it didn’t hurt =)] I am about to get radiation again, I wonder if I could get away with on a calf [upper right breast quadrant, they even had to remove my port =(] I will ask on teh 17th, when I go in for a dry run to make sure the targeting points work out. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/9 "2021-06-07T22:57:04Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I have always used the arm spot, and never had any issue sleeping, I sleep like a goldfish out of water, I flop around like you wouldn’t believe. Phew! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LivingGhost371](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@LivingGhost371](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LivingGhost371)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/10 "2021-06-08T02:24:46Z")
I disagree with the suggestions of putting it inside your arm. Besides the manufacturer telling you not to do it, this lady got a nasty flesh-eating bacteria infection from it, and the article suggests part of the issue was placement on the inside of the arm, where skin temperature and humidity are higher > **[Streptococcus pyogenes necrotizing soft tissue infection following glucose...](https://academic.oup.com/qjmed/article/114/1/58/5819148)** > > A 35-year-old woman with Type 1 diabetes was admitted for an erysipelas of her left upper arm. She was using an insulin pump therapy to treat her diabetes diagn I tried out one of the devices for two weeks. At no time did I feel it sleeping or did it dislodge while sleeping, a bigger issue is them getting ripped off when you bump into a door frame. If you’re paranoid about loosing it, you can buy plastic covers that you can then use a variety of medical tapes over. The sensor won’t “break” if you sleep on it. I doubt it would even break if you banged your arm into a concrete block wall. Besides being pretty durable, it’s on your skin, which has a lot of give to it. The worst that will happen is your reading might be somewhat inaccurate while sleeping on it. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/11 "2021-06-08T12:50:48Z")
My son has one. He really has no restrictions. I’ve seen him sleeping on it without an issue. It’s thin and on the soft outside of your upper arm. It doesn’t seem to provide any sort of lump that might be uncomfortable. I regularly accidentally grab his arm where the sensor is when I give him a hug. Although he says “hey watch out for my sensor” I’ve never hurt him or accidentally dislodged it despite being relatively vigorous. > [@mandala](#): > > If you install on the back of the arm, it is possible that the needle gets bent when your weight shifts. There is no needle. It’s a foil. It’s flexible. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/12 "2021-06-09T18:30:48Z")
Thanks, **LivingGhost371** and **Princhester**! > [@LivingGhost371](#): > > a bigger issue is them getting ripped off when you bump into a door frame I _do_ tend to bump into door frames…but I also never go sleeveless (or topless), so maybe my shirts will help protect the sensors\*. 🙂 \*…whenever I get a reader, and can start using the system. CVS says that they’ve special-ordered it. I don’t know how the sensors can be available next-day while the reader is a special order, but whatever. I only care because it means I might have to do some finger-sticks while I wait. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/13 "2021-06-12T11:40:26Z")
Wow. I have been using this system for an year now and never realized it has a flexible fiber, not a needle. I suppose it looks like a needle so much I never bothered to touch it. Ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![LivingGhost371](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@LivingGhost371](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LivingGhost371)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/14 "2021-06-13T15:53:36Z")
Yes, when you’re ready to put it in you see a pretty vicious looking rigid introducer needle. Upon insertion it retracts into the paraphernalia that you throw away and you’re left with a flexible wire that still looks For those interested, the guts of it are a customized version of the Texas Instruments RF430 ( a standard chip often used for wireless industrial sensors), as well as a battery and antenna and a few thermistors and passive components. I’d suspect the reader is special order because everyone needs the sensor but a lot of people just use their phones. It is fascinating and almost addicting just to wave the device at your sensor and it immediately tells you what your blood glucose is. Mine read 30 points too low at the low end and 20 points too low at the high end, but these errors were pretty constant you can adjust for them. As a non-diabetic that played with it, the major weakness of the system I see is that they claim that it “needs no calibration” so they in fact have no mechanism for you to calibrate it. I understand that for diabetics, who could die if their blood sugar gets too high or too low, the lack of push notifications is a bigger deal than the inaccuracy and inability to calibrate. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/15 "2021-06-13T17:02:22Z")
> [@LivingGhost371](#): > > a lot of people just use their phones Wait…I can use my phone?! [_does some research_] Hey, I think I can use my phone! Thanks!! > [@LivingGhost371](#): > > the lack of push notifications is a bigger deal I think the reader has alerts for high/low readings. Sounds like that might be the reader’s only advantage, though. ---
**Author:** ![LivingGhost371](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@LivingGhost371](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LivingGhost371)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/16 "2021-06-13T18:49:42Z")
I guess they just came out with a version (Libre 2) that does include real-time alarms when used with the reader. The version I used (14 day), it would just play a special tone if you scanned it and were high or low, for whatever value that had. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/17 "2021-06-13T19:19:31Z")
> [@LivingGhost371](#): > > I guess they just came out with a version (Libre 2) that does include real-time alarms when used with the reader. Yep, that’s the version I have (per the OP). And, turns out those sensors _aren’t_ compatible with the phone app. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/18 "2021-06-14T21:11:49Z")
Coincidentally, I just started using the original FreeStyle Libre yesterday. I was hoping for the newer one but turns out the LPN didn’t prescribe that one. My glucose levels are okay but my A1C isn’t; my triglycerides are a bit high as well. We’re hoping the continuous monitoring will help keep my carb intake down, thus bringing my A1C back down. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/19 "2021-06-15T19:56:32Z")
My CVS finally got the reader in stock: I picked it up last night. And a little while ago I confirmed that the sensor won’t be any kind of issue for the mammogram I’m having on Friday, so I’ll be slapping one on at some point today. Tomorrow morning I’ll be able to answer my own OP. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776/20 "2021-06-26T00:32:18Z")
They are very user friendly. I have so many Borg implants I say my name is Seven of Nine(a dream, alas) I’ve dislodged things a few times with no major outcomes other than the waste. You’ll do fine. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-sleeping-with-a-freestyle-libre-sensor/943776.md?page=2)